Not So Rocky News

Colorado Primaries

Colorado primaries  involved some notable characters, but the results are not too surprising.  Republican Congressman and former presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, who is known nationally for his strong words on immigration issues, is retiring and most likely to take his seat is Mike Coffman, the current Colorado Secretary of State.  Coffman beat his main opponent in the primary, Wil Armstrong by a comfortable 9 point margin. This 6th congressional district seat is a pretty safe Republican seat, and so Democrat Hank Eng will have a tough time in the general election, even if fellow Republicans aren't too happy about their Secretary of State giving up a rare Republican seat in statewide government.

In the 5th district, Colorado Springs saw a contest among three serious candidates in the Republican primary. Jeff Crank and Bently Rayburn made Congressman Doug Lamborn work a little to retain his seat in the House. In the end, Lamborn pulled it out with a clear win, beating his two main contenders 46% to Crank's 29% and Rayburn's 25%.

And in the 2nd congressional district, there was a real race in the Democratic primary for Congressman Mark Udall's seat. Udall is giving up his congressional seat to run for US Senate.  Jared Polis beat the ex-state senate president, Joan Fitz-Gerald, and conservationist Will Shafroth 42% to 38% to 20%. Although this race was mostly a matchup between Polis and Fitz-Gerald, Shafroth put in a good showing, getting the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post endorsements by media who were not liking the intensity of the race between Polis and Fitz-Gerald.  It is likely that Polis will be the next congressman to represent Boulder, Colorado as this is a safe Democratic seat.  He will not be the first millionaire to join Congress (he gave himself $5 million to win this race), but he will be one of only a few who is openly gay.